Bay Area Citizen - Sports
A season to remember for Clear Creek volleyball
By CHUCK HLAVA
Clear Creek’s volleyball team put a cap on its very successful season falling in the state semifinal game. But they Lady Wildcats didn’t go gently into the night. Defending state 5A champion Amarillo had to eke out a win in five tough games against Creek in San Marcos last Friday.
The Wildcats actually came close to unseating the champion Sandies by leading 2-1 in games a slight lead in the fourth game. But Amarillo eventually won 19-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 15-10.
The Sandies then went on to claim their third straight state 5A UIL title by defeating Austin Westlake. In the final they rallied to win another 5-game thriller, 19-25, 25-22, 17-25, 25-19, 15-11.
The loss in the state semifinals was tough to take for the Wildcats. They had defeated Amarillo early in the season in the Pearland tournament. But state competition is different and Clear Creek ended the season with a 41-5 record, its best season ever.
That included the breakthrough win in the Region III championship game over Travis, after years of making the region final four tournaments.
It was Clear Creek’s first state journey since 1995. The last time the Cats won the state volleyball crown was 40 years ago – 1968.
Creek’s lineup wasn’t lost on the state judges as senior libero Haley Jacob was named to the All-State Tournament Team.
Rounding out the season, Clear Creek coach Scott Simonds felt this team was a coach’s dream.
“This group set out to achieve some extremely high goals this year, including breaking the all-time record for wins,” Simonds pointed out.
The Wildcats did that. The old win mark of 36 was set in 2002. Now the benchmark is 41. Creek also won its sixth district crown in eight years.
“We had an amazing season,” he said.
Plans changed once the Wildcats won the Region III title, “We shifted out focus towards winning a state championship,” Simonds added.
“Unfortunately, that did not happen for us. We played a very good Amarillo team and took them down to the wire in a match that could have gone either way.”
As Simonds stated, the match could easily have gone the other way.
“Our game plan was to come out and be as aggressive as humanly possible and we did that,” he said. “We didn’t play tentatively or scared at all. We played well and got contributions from all. Amarillo simply made a few more plays than we did at the end of games 4 and 5 to win the match.
“But I couldn’t be prouder of this group. They’ve worked extremely hard, done unbelievably well and did Clear Creek High School and League City proud.”
The seniors will be extremely tough to replace, Simonds said, talking about Jacobs, Megan Pendergast, Becky Bekelja, Taylor Smith, Alexa Reed and Katie Rosinke.
“They set a great example for players to see for years to come in this program,” he added.
But good things are in store for the Wildcats next season since half the team will be returning.
“I think this group returning gained some valuable experience,” Simonds said. Five of the players played in the regular rotation of nine.
The Wildcats will have their annual banquet on Monday, Dec. 1.
Simonds added that he will begin working on off-season 2009 on Tuesday.
The Wildcats actually came close to unseating the champion Sandies by leading 2-1 in games a slight lead in the fourth game. But Amarillo eventually won 19-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 15-10.
The Sandies then went on to claim their third straight state 5A UIL title by defeating Austin Westlake. In the final they rallied to win another 5-game thriller, 19-25, 25-22, 17-25, 25-19, 15-11.
The loss in the state semifinals was tough to take for the Wildcats. They had defeated Amarillo early in the season in the Pearland tournament. But state competition is different and Clear Creek ended the season with a 41-5 record, its best season ever.
That included the breakthrough win in the Region III championship game over Travis, after years of making the region final four tournaments.
It was Clear Creek’s first state journey since 1995. The last time the Cats won the state volleyball crown was 40 years ago – 1968.
Creek’s lineup wasn’t lost on the state judges as senior libero Haley Jacob was named to the All-State Tournament Team.
Rounding out the season, Clear Creek coach Scott Simonds felt this team was a coach’s dream.
“This group set out to achieve some extremely high goals this year, including breaking the all-time record for wins,” Simonds pointed out.
The Wildcats did that. The old win mark of 36 was set in 2002. Now the benchmark is 41. Creek also won its sixth district crown in eight years.
“We had an amazing season,” he said.
Plans changed once the Wildcats won the Region III title, “We shifted out focus towards winning a state championship,” Simonds added.
“Unfortunately, that did not happen for us. We played a very good Amarillo team and took them down to the wire in a match that could have gone either way.”
As Simonds stated, the match could easily have gone the other way.
“Our game plan was to come out and be as aggressive as humanly possible and we did that,” he said. “We didn’t play tentatively or scared at all. We played well and got contributions from all. Amarillo simply made a few more plays than we did at the end of games 4 and 5 to win the match.
“But I couldn’t be prouder of this group. They’ve worked extremely hard, done unbelievably well and did Clear Creek High School and League City proud.”
The seniors will be extremely tough to replace, Simonds said, talking about Jacobs, Megan Pendergast, Becky Bekelja, Taylor Smith, Alexa Reed and Katie Rosinke.
“They set a great example for players to see for years to come in this program,” he added.
But good things are in store for the Wildcats next season since half the team will be returning.
“I think this group returning gained some valuable experience,” Simonds said. Five of the players played in the regular rotation of nine.
The Wildcats will have their annual banquet on Monday, Dec. 1.
Simonds added that he will begin working on off-season 2009 on Tuesday.
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